[PDF] 3 Feb 2015

To download PDF, Click Here

[Ed] The climate’s changing

India’s pact with the US and the emergence of a new global agenda
Amidst the Modi-Obama atmospherics, the prospect of India ceding ground in the UN climate change talks to be held in Paris this December has been overlooked. The ‘fact sheet’ issued by the White House promises support for India’s clean energy initiatives, but does not acknowledge India’s basic stand in climate talks — the undeniable need for

[Ed] All you wanted to know about: Calculating GDP

Suddenly the Indian economy is looking much better than it did two weeks ago, thanks to a little sleight of hand. The Government’s statistics wing made two changes to the GDP calculation last week which have had the happy effect of lifting growth to 6.9 per cent for 2013-14 instead of 4.7 per cent as estimated earlier.

What is it?There have been two changes to the GDP calculations. One was a change in the base year for the calculation which is done routinely every five years or so. The other was to

[Ed] Healthcare – make it smart and cheap

The US-India initiative should help. The twin objectives of affordable healthcare and IPR should be reconciled

The governments of India and the US have released a joint statement affirming the two countries’ commitment to work together in a number of key areas, including intellectual property rights and healthcare-related trade.

Both countries have agreed to “strengthen collaboration, dialogue and co-operation between the regulatory authorities of the two countries to ensure safety, efficacy

[Ed] An ICBM becomes more versatile

India’s intercontinental ballistic missile, Agni V, has been turned into an even more potent weapon of war. On Saturday, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) demonstrated that this missile, capable of sending a nuclear warhead to targets over 5,000 km away — thereby bringing much of China within its reach — could be launched from a truck-mounted canister. The ability to move ballistic missiles around makes it difficult for an enemy to locate and destroy them. Placed in canisters, the missiles can be easily transported and launched

[Ed] Maharashtra’s way

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis deserves credit for allowing open field trials in five GM crops, notwithstanding the ire it is likely to invite from Sangh Parivar outfits. By noting that the no-objection certificate (NOC) granted by the state government is just for confined trials and not for commercial cultivation, Fadnavis has only stated the obvious. Any decision on commercialisation is for the Centre to take based on data pertaining to bio-safety and

[Ed] The architects of West Asia’s chaos

Neither U.S. President Barack Obama nor King Salman of Saudi Arabia can be comforted with the mess that their countries have made in West Asia. Tragically, the only pathway they seem to favour is the one that would create more distress

Pandemonium is the main current from Libya to Iraq. U.S. President Barack Obama dashed off from New Delhi to greet King Salman, the new ruler of Saudi Arabia. Both had a great

[Ed] The invisible face of terror

There is a need to account for material and economic factors which are completely missing in the discourse surrounding fanatic Islam
In the European imaginary, Christianity is the parent of Reason, and Islam is the embodiment of Unreason. — Talal Asad
Brussels. Ottawa. Sydney. Paris. “Terrorist” attacks in these western cities in

The Hindu -3 Feb 2015

Russia, China back India’s inclusion in expanded APEC
Russia and China have endorsed India’s efforts to formalise an iron-clad rejection of international terrorism, amid a call by the three countries to end the era of a unipolar world and rid the globe of the threat of “regime change.”
At the end of their day-long deliberations in the Chinese capital